Running has given me so many amazing memories. It has allowed me to truly discover who I am and what I am made of. Through running, I have traveled to some of the most beautiful destinations and made a lot of great friends along the way. This blog is dedicated to telling those stories.

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Inspired by the Average Joe

I know I have said it before and I'll say it again...I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY JOB!!!

I am a personal trainer and run coach. I work with all types of people of varying fitness levels. I love being able to work with people and push them beyond their known limits. I enjoy teaching people about health and wellness. There is so much false information out there and it is important to be educated.

If you don't know, The Biggest Loser is one of my favorite TV shows. I tune in every Tuesday to watch it (it's the only show I sit down to watch).

Last night was a surprise (to me) episode called "where are they now". This involved showing past seasons participants in their own environment to see what they have been doing since leaving the show. Most of the participants had kept the weight off. Most finished the show at a bit of an extreme and had put back on 10-20lbs to be at a maintainable weight. They looked great and it was truly inspiring to see their transformations and what they were doing now to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Many of them quit their jobs and became trainers while others became motivational speakers. Many are paying it forward by reaching out to those in the community and helping others achieve what The Biggest Loser helped them achieve. Many of them will say that the show 'got them their life back'. During the show, one contestant (who had never done this before the show) really found a love for running and has since completed a few marathons. She decided to plan a 5km run in her community. She thought she might get a 100 people out. She ended up getting 500 people out which in her community she said was unbelievable. She just wanted to get people moving and she did! Hundreds of runners came up to her after the race to tell her how much watching her on the show inspired them and how they had lost over a lot of weight because they decided to get off the couch.

Unfortunately, the winner of the first season (8 seasons ago), who had lost over 200lbs on the show, had put it all back on! Bob the trainer went to see him at his house. His reason for the weight gain was because he had worked so hard to get it off, it was even more daunting a task to maintain it. He kept saying, tomorrow, tomorrow I will change...and never did. I bet we can all relate to that. I's sure I am not the only one at one point or another to have said "I'll start on Monday" and never did. He told Bob that he knows he has to go back to the "strict way" to lose the weight but Bob was not agreeing. It's not about having to go from one extreme to the other, it's about finding balance that's going to work for you day to day. That contestant knows how to eat healthy, he knows how to exercise, he just needs to do it everyday and keep it consistent. Exercising over 6 hours a day (like they do on the show) and eating a very limited amount of calories is not realistic in the long term. One thing Bob kept telling him was that it was 'OK'. It is OK that he gained all the weight back. What's not OK is to do nothing about it.

Here is a crazy stat: 4.4 billion dollars is spent every year in the U.S on gastric bypass surgery. An unforeseeable amount of money is spent because there is an overwhelming amount of obese people in North America. It's actually cheaper to be Fit!!!

I'm a little too passionate on the topic and this could go on forever so I'll nip it in the bud. I see it as my life mission to help educate as many people as I can on how to be happy, healthy, and fit. I don't mean crazy ultra runner fit. I mean general fitness. You do not have to kill yourself to be fit. That is a misconception. Find something you enjoy and stick with it!

The biggest thing I have told you and will reiterate here again... keep it consistent. Exercise most days of the week (5-6x) even if that means getting out for a walk. And the second most important thing is to fuel up on nutritious whole foods. Think about the foods your are putting inside your body and how they are going to help fuel it optimally. Just think, a donut is going to do absolutely nothing for you, in fact, it will put stress on the body. A handful of almonds and an apple on the other hand will give you energy, increase your good cholesterol (HDL) and lower the bad (LDL), and provide you with important vitamins/minerals. So next time your hungry and in need of a snack/meal, think about what you are choosing and how it will affect your body. You always have a choice, remember what your goals are and make a choice that will help support your goals.